General news

• May pleads for Brexit deal backing amid constitutional row

  03-12-2018 23:57
  Theresa May begins five days of debate on her Brexit plan as MPs consider whether the Government has committed contempt by withholding legal advice.
  
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• May launches high-stakes parliamentary debate on Brexit plan

  03-12-2018 23:32
  Prime Minister Theresa May will urge parliament to back her Brexit deal on Tuesday at the start of a high-stakes five-day debate that could determine her fate and whether Britain leaves the European Union without a deal.May's plan to keep close ties with the EU after leaving has been criticised by Brexit supporters and opponents alike, leaving her struggling to secure parliament's approval in a vote that will follow the debate on Dec. 11.If, against the odds, she wins the vote, Britain will leav
  
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• Bercow: Arguable case Government is in contempt of Parliament

  03-12-2018 23:26
  The Speaker has said he is “satisfied” the matter should be put before MPs to consider on Tuesday morning.
  
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• 'Arguable case' UK government in contempt of parliament over Brexit advice, speaker says

  03-12-2018 22:41
  The British government may be in contempt of parliament for declining to release its full legal advice on Britain's exit from the European Union, parliamentary speaker John Bercow said on Monday."I have considered the matter carefully and I am satisfied that there is an arguable case that a contempt has been committed," John Bercow told parliament.Britain's main opposition Labour Party and others sent a letter to Bercow asking him to consider launching contempt proceedings after Prime Minister T
  
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• Geoffrey Cox milks his moment in Commons spotlight

  03-12-2018 21:50
  Geoffrey Cox sets out the legal advice on Brexit to MPs in the House of Commons.This was the crowning moment of the attorney general’s long and extremely well-paid legal career.Last month the Commons passed a humble address ordering the government to publish the attorney general’s Brexit legal advice and now Cox was in the house to explain in person why he didn’t think that was at all a good idea.
  
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• Senior minister could be suspended over Brexit legal advice

  03-12-2018 21:40
  Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, makes a statement in the Commons on Monday.A cabinet minister is at risk of being suspended from parliament and missing next week’s crunch Commons vote after Labour and the DUP accused ministers of holding parliament in contempt for failing to publish the full Brexit legal advice on Monday.The fate of the minister – likely to be either David Lidington or Geoffrey Cox – will be in the hands of MPs after John Bercow, the Speaker, declared there
  
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• Cabinet minister could face suspension over Brexit legal advice

  03-12-2018 21:40
  Geoffrey Cox, the attorney general, makes a statement in the Commons on Monday.A cabinet minister is at risk of being suspended from parliament and missing next week’s crunch Commons vote after Labour and the DUP accused ministers of holding parliament in contempt for failing to publish the full Brexit legal advice on Monday.The fate of the minister – likely to be either David Lidington or Geoffrey Cox – was in the hands of the Speaker, John Bercow, on Monday night.
  
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• It's not my fault the high street is dying, Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley tells MPs

  03-12-2018 21:37
  The businessman later revealed, in an exclusive interview with Sky's Ian King, that HoF could be joined with rival Debenhams - a company in which he already has a significant stake."They could merge, and in my opinion they should at least work very closely together," Mr Ashley said.Mr Ashley's takeover of the 169-year-old House of Fraser chain saved it from administration but has still left the future of thousands of staff in doubt as the billionaire tycoon seeks to slash store rents, in many ca
  
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• In full: Mike Ashley on the future of the high street

  03-12-2018 21:35
  In full: Mike Ashley tells Sky's Ian King House of Fraser could merge with Debenhams, and reveals his plan to save the wider high street
  
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• Attorney general: Irish backstop is indefinite

  03-12-2018 21:35
  Watch highlights from the attorney general's speech to Parliament.
  
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• Labour and DUP team up with four other parties to threaten 'contempt' over Brexit legal advice

  03-12-2018 21:33
  Theresa May is facing a nearly unprecedented challenge over her refusal to publish legal advice about the Brexit deal in full.Six political parties, including Labour and minority government partners the DUP, have teamed up to fight the decision.A letter sent to Speaker John Bercow said the 52-page legal advice summary on Monday "does not comply" with a Commons vote last month demanding the full text's release.
  
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• Royal Christmas plans revealed amid rumours of strife between Meghan and Kate

  03-12-2018 21:31
  Princes William and Harry and their wives will spend Christmas with the Queen this year.It comes amid speculation about where the two royal brothers would celebrate the festive season following rumours of a strained relationship between Meghan and Kate.There were reports that William and Kate would spend Christmas with the Middleton family while Harry and Meghan would join the Queen and the rest of the royals at Sandringham.
  
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• Michelle Obama ‘inspired’ by pupils as she visits London school

  03-12-2018 21:28
  The former US first lady is on a book tour.
  
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• Geoffrey Cox: People Are Really Enjoying The Attorney General's Magnificent Booming Voice - Even If Brexit's A Mess

  03-12-2018 21:26
  It was another crunch moment in the interminable march towards the European
  
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• Brexit backstop could continue indefinitely, Government legal advice suggests

  03-12-2018 21:25
  Attorney General Geoffrey Cox says neither the UK nor EU is able to unilaterally end the arrangement, aimed at preventing a hard border with Ireland.
  
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• In Video: Trafalgar Square Christmas tree arrives

  03-12-2018 20:43
  The tree was put into place by two large cranes.
  
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• Mike Ashley Just Gave A Very Mike Ashley Performance When Grilled By MPs On The Communities Select Committee

  03-12-2018 20:33
  Mike Ashley made a typically unconventional appearance in parliament on Monday
  
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• Aggressive debt collectors raise risk of suicide

  03-12-2018 20:30
  Intimidating and threatening letters sent by debt collectors, bailiffs and councils raise the risk of suicide by adding to people’s feelings of despair, the study found.The findings have prompted calls from mental health experts for an urgent overhaul of the tactics banks, utility companies, credit card companies and others use to pursue people struggling to repay money they owe.One in 14 adults is in problem debt, meaning they have fallen very behind on paying bills or credit agreements o
  
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• Sturgeon: Delay Brexit to avoid no-deal scenario if MPs reject May plan

  03-12-2018 20:29
  Scotland’s First Minister said the SNP would work with other parties to secure an extension to Article 50 if MPs reject the Brexit deal.
  
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• Presenting legal advice, May fans flames of Brexit rebellion

  03-12-2018 20:18
  British Prime Minister Theresa May's government fought on Monday to defend its Brexit deal by outlining the legal basis for parliament to support its plan to leave the European Union, but instead seemed to fan the flames of rebellion.May faces an uphill struggle to secure parliament's approval in a vote on Dec. 11, when many Brexit supporters and opponents alike say they will reject her vision for leaving the EU, Britain's biggest shift in foreign policy in over 40 years.With several lawmakers d
  
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• London Stock Exchange lines up Experian boss as new chair

  03-12-2018 20:15
  The chairman of Experian, the credit data giant, is being lined up to take the helm of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) a year after rebel investors laid siege to its boardroom in a row over its former chief executive.Sky News has learnt that Don Robert, who is a member of the Court of the Bank of England, is the leading candidate to succeed Donald Brydon at the LSE.Talks between Mr Robert and the LSE board are understood to be at an advanced stage, with an announcement likely before Christ
  
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• House of Commons speaker to rule quickly on contempt proceedings

  03-12-2018 20:11
  Britain's parliamentary speaker John Bercow said he would make a decision as early as Monday evening on whether the government is in contempt of parliament for failing to release its full legal advice on Brexit.The opposition Labour Party and other parties had written to parliament's speaker asking him to consider launching contempt proceedings."I intend to come to a rapid decision before it (the House of Commons) rises tonight or if that proves impossible, (then) at the earliest opportunity tom
  
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• Dutch Court Rejects 69-Year-Old Man's Bid To Legally Lower His Age By 20 Years

  03-12-2018 20:01
  A dutch man will continue his life as a 69-year-old, after losing a legal bid
  
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• Mike Ashley wants tax on retailers with online sales of more than 20%

  03-12-2018 19:58
  Mike Ashley told MPs that mainstream retailers would only consider entering some high streets with significant financial incentives to do so.Mike Ashley, the founder and chief executive of Sports Direct, has called for a tax on retailers that make more than a fifth of sales online as he said many high streets were “already dead” and more would be killed off without government intervention.In a sometimes bad-tempered appearance before MPs who are investigating how to support the futur
  
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• Man arrested over raid on chemist in Belfast

  03-12-2018 19:56
  Police have warned against the public purchasing medication from an illicit source.
  
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• Celebrities take pig farm protest to Westminster

  03-12-2018 19:47
  Jerome Flynn, the Duchess of Beaufort and Gizzi Erksine were among those who posed with a fancy dress pig outside Parliament.
  
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• Naturalist David Attenborough says U.S. 'out on a limb' on climate

  03-12-2018 19:41
  The 92-year-old criticised Donald Trump for his attitude to climate change, saying that action needs to be taken to avoid more damage. Rough cut (no reporter narration)
  
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• Samantha Eastwood: Texts killer Michael Stirling sent while posing as murdered midwife

  03-12-2018 19:17
  After murdering Samantha Eastwood and burying her in a shallow grave, Michael Stirling sent a series of texts pretending that she was still alive.The 32-year-old, who has been jailed for life after confessing to killing the midwife, used Miss Eastwood's phone to send messages to her sister, Gemma.Police described the ruse as a "poor attempt" to cover up his tracks, with investigators tracking the phone's movements to Stirling's white van.
  
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• Student activists object to NUS plans to get rid of diversity officers

  03-12-2018 19:12
  Students say the proposals would make the union ‘little more than a thinktank’.The National Union of Students has come under fire after it emerged that proposals are being considered to get rid of liberation officers, who represent black, LGBT+, trans, disabled and women students, in order to cut costs.The proposal is just one of a number of measures under consideration to try to plug the projected £3m deficit facing the troubled union, which represents the bulk of students in
  
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• Arrests after banana skin thrown during Arsenal-Spurs game

  03-12-2018 19:05
  Four men have been charged after a banana skin was thrown on the pitch during the north London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham.The Gunners outclassed fierce rivals Tottenham 4-2 in a thrilling game at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opened the scoring for Arsenal with a penalty and the banana skin was thrown as he celebrated in front of the travelling Spurs fans.
  
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• Ofcom investigates TV station over interview praising attack in Iran

  03-12-2018 19:03
  An soldier carries a child at the site of the attack in the Iranian city of Ahvaz in September.A London-based satellite news station is being formally investigated by Ofcom after broadcasting an interview with an extremist group that claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack in Iran.The media regulator said it will consider whether Iran International, which is based in west London but broadcasts to a Farsi-language audience around the world, broke broadcasting standards by airing the footage
  
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• What's in a name? How 'mystery shopping' studies show bias

  03-12-2018 19:00
  Multiple studies have shown job candidates presumed to be white are more likely to be offered interviews than those likely to be from a minority ethnic background.The results of the Guardian’s investigation into discrimination in the property rental market echo the findings of similar studies in recent years.The approach of submitting applications using different names more likely to belong either to a white or black or minority ethnic person has been used most commonly in the jobs arena t
  
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• Irish Brexit backstop goes on indefinitely, says attorney general

  03-12-2018 18:58
  The UK is “indefinitely committed” to the Irish backstop if it comes into force, the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, has told MPs as he explained to them the legal advice he gave the government on the planned Brexit deal.Answering questions from MPs in what Downing Street said was the first such appearance by an attorney general in the Commons in decades, Cox also said there was no unilateral right for the UK to pull out of the backstop, which would come into force to prevent a hard
  
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• Mike Ashley urges tax on internet retailers to save high street

  03-12-2018 18:57
  The retailer told MPs local government should consider offering free parking in town centres.
  
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• Education’s value to society is lost amid focus on graduate salaries

  03-12-2018 18:39
  Paul Hewitson (Letters, 28 November) quotes Jack Britton, the author of an Institute for Fiscal Studies report into graduate pay, who referred to “a large class of men doing courses that have a zero or negative monetary value”.Whether he would find it “disturbing” is rather a moot point, as many of these pupils were only taking A-levels because of government underfunding of more appropriate courses.
  
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• Rape charity highlights lack of progress over victim examinations

  03-12-2018 18:37
  Rape Crisis Scotland said more needs to be done to meet the needs of survivors.
  
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• Former soldier apologises to family of man shot in Belfast in 1971

  03-12-2018 18:37
  Witness M3 told the family of Eddie Doherty during an inquest in Belfast that he wishes he could turn back time.
  
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• Killed horses remembered in Burnham-on-Crouch parade

  03-12-2018 18:35 via bbc.co.uk
  More than 50 horses rode through the streets of an Essex town a year after a fatal stable blaze.
  
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• Mental health checks are a boost for new fathers – and great for women | Jack O’Sullivan

  03-12-2018 18:34
  The NHS is at last recognising that men have postnatal issues too, and that the health of family members is intertwinedThe news that partners of those new and expectant mothers who suffer from depression or anxiety will be offered mental health checks by the NHS is extremely welcome. It is good for men, but also a breakthrough for women. That’s because the NHS is at last recognising not only that men have postnatal issues too, but that the wellbeing of new mothers is deeply dependent on su
  
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• Leicester couple use pension to put on lights display

  03-12-2018 18:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Fred and Eileen Toone, aged 91 and 86, put on the lights display "for the elderly people".
  
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• Trump praises Roger Stone for vow not to testify against him – live

  03-12-2018 18:32
  President tweets ‘Nice to know that some people still have ‘guts!’’ after attacking former lawyer Michael Cohen. Get all the latest live 5.32pm GMT George Conway, the husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, suggested Donald Trump is engaging in obstruction of justice by praising Roger Stone’s refusal to testify against him. “File under ‘18 U.S.C. §§ 1503, 1512,’” the attorney said on Twitter, referring to statutes that go
  
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• Brexit: Cox tells MPs backstop could last indefinitely under international law – Politics live

  03-12-2018 18:31
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including attorney general Geoffrey Cox’s statement to MPs about Brexit legal adviceBrexit advice summary published amid warnings of backstop row5.31pm GMT Dominic Raab, who resigned as Brexit secretary over the deal, says that taking a legal case against the backstop to the ECJ could take 10 years.Cox says the 10-year estimate is “probably far too long”. 5.29pm GMT Labour’s Hilary Benn asks for an example in int
  
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• Sports Direct's Mike Ashley calls for web tax to save 'dying' high street - business live

  03-12-2018 18:29
  UK retail boss calls for new tax on web retailers, and faces criticism over House of Fraser takeoverLatest: UK retail magnate Mike Ashley at parliamentAshley: Tax companies who do >20% of business onlineAshley: Only God could keep all House of Fraser stores openVideo: Mike Ashley on future of retail 5.25pm GMT Mike Ashley winds up his hearing with a prediction -- Harrods and Selfridges will have a good year. One of the reasons that House of Fraser failed is that it didn’t elevate itself
  
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• People’s champion Tyson Fury evokes memories of Muhammad Ali era | Kevin Mitchell

  03-12-2018 18:27
  The Mancunian’s display against Deontay Wilder has complicated the immediate future of the heavyweight divisionWhen Tyson Fury got up from the canvas to finish like a wounded bull in the 12th round of his achingly unfair draw with Deontay Wilder in a faraway ring, he not only moved alongside his shocked opponent and Anthony Joshua as unbeaten claimants to heavyweight supremacy. He single-handedly made the struggle with gloves a very human experience again. That makes him genuine box-office
  
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• Bouncers sacked after 'appalling' attack on St Helens rugby league player Joe Sharratt

  03-12-2018 18:27
  Bouncers at a Manchester nightclub have been sacked after an 18-year-old rugby player suffered a serious head injury following an "appalling" assault.Joe Sharratt, an academy player with St Helens rugby league club, is said to be in a stable condition following the incident outside the Factory 251 club on Princess Street.Video on social media shows one man motionless on the floor after being pushed over by a bouncer as other security staff repeatedly punch another man.
  
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• Criticism for Grayling as MPs issue scathing report into rail timetable chaos

  03-12-2018 18:24
  Disruption following the timetable change demonstrated that significant change is required in the rail industry, says the Department for Transport.
  
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• Britain will not be trapped permanently in a customs union - government lawyer

  03-12-2018 18:24
  Britain's government is committed to the so-called backstop arrangement on the Northern Irish border after Brexit, but does not believe that it will be trapped permanently in a EU customs union, the government's Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said.
  
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• Amlo heralds Mexico's new dawn with 7am presidential press conference

  03-12-2018 18:24
  Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as Amlo, signalled new openness by briefing reporters and ditching heavy securityMexico’s newly inaugurated president has hit the ground running, with his pledge to govern as a common man and end decades of secrecy, heavy security and luxury enjoyed by past presidents.Andrés Manuel López Obrador sported slightly ruffled hair at his first early morning news conference as president on Monday, which started at 7am local time. Cont
  
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• Labour accuses May's government of breaking parliament rules

  03-12-2018 18:23
  Britain's opposition Labour party said Theresa May's government had ignored an instruction by parliament to publish in full its legal advice on the deal to leave the European Union.The Labour Party has threatened to write to the speaker of the House of Commons, formally accusing the government of failing to comply with a legally binding vote last month,meaning it could face a contempt of parliament action."Mr Speaker, in the first instance it will be for you to rule whether there has been an arg
  
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• How hot dogs got haute: fashion's fast food love-in

  03-12-2018 18:18
  From the humble grilled cheese sandwich to classic burger and fries, Anna Hart discovers how comfort food is getting a luxury makeover as part of our everyday extraordinary series. All images captured on the Google Pixel 3A decade ago, grabbing a burger was a quick fix, something we did when we were short of cash, time or imagination. For modern diners, going for a burger is a quest. A quest for excellence: gastronomic, ethical and aesthetic excellence. In cities around the globe, dishes that wo
  
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